§ SIR. JOHN LENGI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, whether he has had under consideration the question of connecting Bombay and Sindh by direct railway communication, so as to give facilities for traffic to and from Cutch, Sindh, Gujurat, Purkar, and the adjacent districts, which have suffered during the last two famines from the insufficient supply of food both for men and cattle; and, seeing that the lack of such communication prevents the development of the mineral wealth of Cutch, at present restricted to the alum mines at Muth, and that this line would reduce the distance for transporting troops and supplies from Bombay to the frontier, whether he will take care that the objections of the Rao of Cutch do not prevent its formation through his State; and whether there is reason to hope the Indian Government will 36 sanction the scheme, settle definitely the route through Cutch, and entertain offers from private companies desirous of taking up the construction and working of the proposed line.
§ * LORD G. HAMILTONI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by me on the 16th July last year, to a similar Question asked on his behalf by the hon. Member for Dundee, when I stated that there are other railway projects of greater urgency awaiting execution, and that I was not prepared to set them aside in favour of the proposed line through Cutch, which only promises a return of 2 per cent. upon the cost of its construction. Since that reply was given, the Government of India have allotted a sum of Rs 2 lakhs for expenditure in the present financial year on a railway, which, if continued, will form the first section of the proposed Cutch-Bombay line; but I cannot undertake to say when any further steps will be taken in the prosecution of the entire scheme.